-11: 



GLEANINGS IN iJEE CULTUllE. 



JUXE 



mention. If you examine any of our price 

 lists for years past, you will tind that it says 

 the price of a body only is eciual to the price 

 of a cover: so that, in any of our tables, 

 bodies will be half as mucli as a one-story 

 liive with one cover. 



A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE IN COM- 

 MENCING TO KEEP BEES. 



)Mi: OF IlliU l-KltPLKXlTlLS AS AVKI-I- AS SUC- 

 CESSES. 



H.WE alwiiys thought I should like to take care 



t of boos. Wi- have been in tlie habit of bu3'ing- 



1 honey of our neighbors every fall, and it seem- 

 ed to me I would rather |nij- out money for 

 bees, and raise my own honey. So about the 

 middle of June last year I i)urehascd a swarm of 

 Italians, for which 1 i>aid iffl.lK). 



We live in the midst of a farminj,' country, with 

 plenty of fruit-blossoms, clover, and buckwheat, 

 and near the shore of beautiful lake Chautau(iuti. 

 1 selit for the ABC book, aiid, not long- after, for 

 Gleanings. The more I learned about bees, the 

 more I found there was to learn. 1 so much wished 

 I could visit some sood apiarist, and ask, oh so many 

 (piestionsl but there were none within 2i) miles, 

 and so 1 turned again and again to the A B C book. 



My neighbors keep black bees, but they simply 

 hive them when they swarm, and take up honey in 

 the fiill. If they half die through the winter, it is 

 no more than they expected. T found I could not 

 gain very much information from them, so I re- 

 solved to depend on what I could learn by reading, 

 and my own common sense. E.vperience is often a 

 dear teacher, but a pretty good one after all. 



When I bought my bees, the brood combs were 

 nearly (•mpt3'. They went right to work, however, 

 and soon filled the brood-combs, but did not seem 

 at all inclined to work in the sections. About the 

 last of July they sent out a nice large swarm. Per- 

 haps my e.vperience in regard to the swarm may 

 teach others who are just l)eginniMg. to be more 

 watchful. 



1 am a farmers wife, and do my own work. 

 Previous to their swarming T had v.atched them 

 pretty closely for two weeks. That day I had been 

 unusually busy, and an occasional glance toward 

 the hives was all the attention I gave them until 

 al)out 6 p. >i., when I went out 1o the hive. An all- 

 ot listless inactivity about the front of the hive 

 made my heart jump. 1 lifted the cover; aliout 

 half the usual (luantity of bees were dejectedly 

 crawling around the combs, as though they had lost 

 their best friend. My bees, my beatitiful yellow 

 bees, with the Italian (|ueen, were gonel I went 

 into the house and sat down. I was very tired, and 

 this disappointment made me feel as though a good 

 old-fashioned cry would be the ne.\t thing on the 

 l)rogi-ammc. My husband came in for the milk- 

 pails. He had been very skeptical in regard to m.\ 

 ability to take care of the bees. 



" What is the matterV" 



" My bees are gone." 



"Are you sure? " 



" Yes." 



"Let's go out and see; msi.N lir iliey are some- 

 where round on the trees. ' 



"Oh, no: tliey must have swarmed this forenoon, 

 and now it is almost night. They have gone to the 

 woods long ago," 



j But he went out, and soon came back, saying, 

 " They are on a low branch of an apple-tree, just 

 back of the hen-house." 



Then I jumped. I seized a sheet, and spread it in 



front of a hive already prepared. He sawed otJ the 



limb, and 1 shook them gently in front of the hive. 



Didn't I enjoy seeing those bees go in"/ 



Well, they went to woi-k upon their foundation, 



' and built combs and tilled with honey and brood. 



! The other hive did not do much for a long time, 



I then their queen began to lay, and she proved a hy- 



I brid. Soon cold weather came. 1 fed them sugar 



j syrup a little in October. The last day of October I 



: put them up snugly in chaff hives. Whenever there 



came a day warm enough, I would peek in to see if 



J they were all right. I believe we had only one day 



j in March when the mercury went above Ireezing. 



I That day I looked in, found them all right, and 



■ could see thej" had some honey, but did not like to 



I disturb them enough to see how much, and so for 



fear they might be getting out 1 tucked some candy 



j in under the burlap aci-oss the frames. Then came 



' day after day of zero weather and veri' little snow. 



j I would go out and bank up the lower part of the 



j hives with snow, and throw some lightly over the 



I entrance. 



At last spring came, and my two swarms came 



I through, strong and well. My neighbors were com- 



1 plaining of heavy losses. One day in April 1 was 



j alarmed by signs of dysentery around my Italian 



hive. I think they had found a heap of rotten i)om- 



I ace near a cider-mill not far off. 1 fed them some 



sugar syrup to coax them to stay at home, and in 



] two or three days all signs of disease disappeared. 



I do not know whether that was the right thing to 



do or not. 



I did not take oft the chaff cushions till about the 



middle of May. On the 2:M of May the Italian hive 



swarmed (this time I was watching), but they did 



not cluster, and soon went back into the hive. 



1 The next day was rainy. On the 2.5tli they came 



j out again, and again went into the hive. Reading 



I in the A B (J book that bees would kill their (jueen 



if she did not swarui with them, I looked into the 



I hive soon after they went back, to see if there was 



any trouble. The bees had gnawed through the 



burlap, and I found the queen and a few bees on 



j top of the burlap. I thought 1 would cage- her, and 



I when they came out again i)ut a new hive in the 



j place of tlie old, and let her go in witli them when 



they went back, or else I would divide the liees and 



I give her part. I got my cage all leady; but I dis- 



j liked to i)ick her up by her wings, lest she might be 



I injured; so I let her crawl on to a feather, and two 



I or three of the bees with ^ner. I put them into the 



cage, as I supposed, and looked to sec if she was 



there. The worker-bees were there, but she was 



not. 1 did not see her Hy, I did not see her drop. 



Now, where was she';:' I looked long and carefully 



in the gi-ass— no queen. Did she fly? and if so, 



would she find her way to the hive, or be lost? At 



night I looked the hive over carefully, but could 



tind no (lueen. Did she lly and get lost, or make 



hvv way back to the hive, and the bees kill her? 



1 do not like hybrids. I always get stung when 

 looking over that hive. They are doing good work, 

 though, iind the siili sections are nearly full of nice 

 honey. 



I do not want my hybrid hive to swarm naturally, 

 so now I send to you for two (jucens. I am out of 

 )>ocket about faj.oy for bees, hives, foundation, 



